Suchergebnisse

This volume explores the final phase of the West Roman Empire, particularly the changing interactions between the imperial authority and external 'barbarian' groups in the northwest frontiers of the empire during the fourth and fifth centuries. The contributions present valuable overviews of recent archaeological research combined with innovative theoretical discussions. Key topics include the movement of precious metals, trajectories of imperial power, the archaeology of migration, and material culture in relation to debates about ethnicity.

In the past two decades, conflict archaeology has become firmly established as a relatively new and promising field of research, as reflected in publications, symposia, conference sessions and fieldwork projects. It has its origins in the study of battlefields and other conflict-related phenomena in the modern Era, but numerous studies show that this theme, and at least some of its methods, techniques and theories, are also relevant for older historical and even prehistoric periods. This book presents a series of case-studies on conflict archaeology in ancient Europe, based on the results of both recent fieldwork and a reassessment of older excavations. The chronological framework spans from the Neolithic to Late Antiquity, and the geographical scope from Iberia to Scandinavia. Along key battlefields such as the Tollense Valley, Baecula, Alesia, Kalkriese and Harzhorn, the volume also incorporates many other sources of evidence that can be directly related with past conflict scenarios, including defensive works, military camps, battle-related ritual deposits, and symbolic representations of violence in iconography and grave goods. The aim is to explore the material evidence for the study of warfare, and to provide new theoretical and methodological insights into the archaeology of mass violence in ancient Europe and beyond

Introduction. New perspectives on the Late Roman Northwest / Nico Roymans, Stijn Heeren -- LATE ROMAN STATE AND MILITARY ORGANISATION. The Late Roman imperial centre and its northwest frontier / Peter Heather ; The Roman army and military defence in Northern Gaul and the Germanic provinces during the Late Empire / Raymond Brulet -- POWER RELATIONS AND MATERIAL CULTURE. Gold, Germanic foederati and the end of imperial power in the Late Roman North / Nico Roymans ; Hacksilber in the Late Roman and Early Medieval world. Economics, frontier politics and imperial legacies / Fraser Hunter, Kenneth Painter ; A symbol for Late Roman authority revisited. A socio-historical understanding of the crossbow brooch / Vince Van Thienen -- REGIONAL CASE STUDIES. The Late Roman town of Tongeren in Germania Secunda / Alain Vanderhoeven ; From Germania Inferior to Germania Secunda and beyond. A case study of migration, transformation and decline / Stijn Heeren ; Roman state involvement in Britain in the later 4th century. An ebbing tide? / Simon Esmonde Cleary ; Decline, collapse, or transformation? The case for the northern frontier of Britannia / Rob Collins